The subject of the present invention is a modular and variable kitchen range made up of ready-made single modules in a frame with a gas ceramic cook-top, wherein each of these individual modules comprises all parts necessary for operation as burners which can be fueled with any desired kind of energy source, or for operation as a gas exhaust unit, blower unit, control module, signal and display unit or parts necessary for other components.
Glass ceramic cook tops today consist usually of a metal view frame into which the glass ceramic cook surface is cemented, for example by means of silicone. Radiant heaters are pressed against the bottom of the cook surface by various resilient means. For this purpose, cross members and/or a bottom plate are necessary. Such a construction is extensively described in the patent literature. In the present state of the art, gas-heated cook tops with radiant burners under the glass ceramic are complex in construction. Such a system is described extensively, for example, in German Patent 43 26 945 A1.
In such gas ranges it is advantageous for burners, igniters, flame control electrodes and protective heat limiters to be integrated structurally into the thermal insulation, so that additional holes or openings must be provided in the thermal insulating material which cannot withstand much mechanical stress. In addition, other fastening means are necessary in the cook top. Shaping requires cost-intensive processing steps. However, such systems do not exhibit the flexibility regarding burner selection and arrangement of the kind known in electrically heated glass ceramic cook tops.
German DE-OS 2 105 969 discloses a cook top which has a frame structure, a pan-like bottom plate and electrically heated plates which correspond to cooking zones on the glass ceramic plate.
Also, in the cook top arrangement according to DE-OS 2 105 969, the heat elements lie on a thermal insulating material which is in the form of a block-like body and virtually fills up the space between the glass ceramic plate and the bottom plate.
From German Patent DE 27 29 930 C2 it is known to produce the thermal insulation for a plurality of heating elements in the form of an insulating body with key-shaped openings.
In the state of the art, shaping operations are required that are sometimes expensive. Also, installation in a sheet metal pan is almost always required to increase mechanical strength.
German Patent DE 33 15 745 C2 shows to a cook top with gas-fueled burners and with a continuous cooking surface of glass ceramic, having at least two definitely separate cooking zones each of which is associated with a separate burner, a warmer or keep-warm area and exhaust ducts for removing combustion gases, and auxiliary systems. The burners have gas mixing chambers, gas mixers and gas valves. The burner areas, the warmer zone and the exhaust ducts are surrounded at the areas which do not serve for the transfer of heat to the cook top, including all components of the burners, by a module common to these parts and consisting of thermal insulating material of low mass.
It is the object of patent DE 33 15 745 C2 to configure a gas cook top with a continuous cooking area of glass ceramic such that any undesired and disadvantageous heating of the pan space will be avoided, while allowing for a simple and low cost production of the cook top with little cost of assembly, and which will have a mechanically stable construction with good thermal insulation.
This design is still very difficult to adapt to different cook top layouts with sufficient flexibility, and the thermal insulating module common to all parts is very expensive to manufacture and difficult to handle. Further, its size and geometry make it costly to work with.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a cook top system of variable layout, in which different types of burners, exhaust modules, blower units, control modules and other modules necessary for the operation of a cook top can be used in accord with requirements, even in different sizes and dimensions, and can be assembled and combined in a single functional unit in a minimum of time, in an existing, common frame construction, with a glass ceramic plate.
It is a further object of this invention is to provide a configuration of each component, including the necessary thermal insulation, such that it can be used even as a supporting module for additional modules and for additional components of apparatus, and simultaneously provide the often very delicate materials of the thermal insulation with strength and stability, and also provide protection against mechanical damage.